Open topped cargo compartments such as dump trucks, short vehicle trailers, storage bins and the like used to store or carry particulate material are subject to having the particulate material fall or blow out in use. Container covering apparatuses are provided to prevent or mitigate against the foregoing concern.
Numerous container covering apparatuses exist in the prior art. One known class of devices includes a cover that is connected to a series of curved supports, which conventionally are known as “bows.” Such an apparatus includes two endless loop cables, each cable being connected to a pair of sheaves. One pair of sheaves is disposed on an axle connected to one end of the container, and the other is disposed on an axle connected to the other end of the container. One or both of the sheaves is connected to a chain drive or similar mechanism that is manually or electrically driven. The support that is furthest away from the drive mechanism is connected to the cables, and the other supports terminate in eyes onto which the cables are threaded. The cover is typically a flexible material that includes pockets in which the supports are disposed. This type of covering apparatus is conventionally known as a “cable tarp” apparatus.
Cable tarp apparatuses are popular because of the simplicity of their design and ease of their use. By manually or otherwise operating the drive, the operator may advance the cover by urging the connected terminal support away from the drive. When the cover is closed, the curved bows and the tension on the cover cause the cover to assume a tent-like shape over the container. The operator may retract the cover by driving the cable in the opposing direction, thereby urging the terminal support to travel in a retracting direction. The remaining supports, which typically are disposed in spaced-apart pockets in the cover, travel with the cover to permit the cover to open or close in accordion-like fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,914 purports to disclose one such apparatus.
It has been observed that the supports sometimes break during usage. In many known cable tarp apparatuses, the supports terminate on each end in an eye into which the cable is threaded. In such devices, it is inconvenient to replace a support, because the user typically must disconnect some or all of the remaining supports and subsequently re-thread the cable through the supports.
In other prior art apparatuses, the supports are designed to be removable from the apparatus, and each support terminates in a collar from which the support may be decoupled. The collars each include an eye portion through which the cable is threaded. This design allows supports to be removed individually, but prior such designs nonetheless still suffer from certain drawbacks. Specifically, it has been observed that the collars can become broken or damaged during use. In such case, the cable generally must be disconnected and re-threaded to replace or repair a collar.
The invention seeks to overcome the foregoing drawbacks in the heretofore described apparatuses.